Not sure Nature obeys the law of “self-correcting.” What is the correct climate anyway?
Science Blog reports:
Forests have a limited capacity to soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study from Northern Arizona University.
The study, available online in the journal New Phytologist, aimed to explore how rising atmospheric carbon dioxide could alter the carbon and nitrogen content of ecosystems.
By performing tests on subtropical woodland plots over an 11-year period, the researchers found that ecosystem carbon uptake was not significantly increased by the high CO2 treatment—in contrast to expectations. While plants did contain more carbon when CO2 levels were increased, soil actually lost carbon due to microbial decomposition; both factors essentially balanced one another out.
“Nature cannot ‘self-correct’ entirely against climate change, and the scientific community has been both overestimating the impact of plants and underestimating the impact of soil microorganisms in how they absorb CO2 and ultimately impact global warming,” said Bruce Hungate, director of the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society at NAU and lead author on the study.
The correct climate is obviously the one that is managed by the government.
And how exactly did the plants contain more carbon? Does that mean that the plants grew larger, or does CO2 magically increase the density of plants?
“What is the correct climate anyway?” A perfect question which the warmists will never answer honestly–to them, the correct climate is whatever they want or whatever suits their needs.
Was nature perfect 500 years ago, 1000, 10,000? Which one do we try to copy and replicate–as if it was possible.
I would say that natural systems are dominated by negative feedbacks; they are not conscious, let alone consciously self-correcting, any more than economic markets are conscious or consciously self-correcting.
More plants and healthier plants will absorb more CO2 and release more oxygen. That’s likely to have any number of ripple effects, some of which will also affect CO2 balance. Thus the description of a non-linear coupled chaotic system.